UNSC Ironclad Bridge
This mission was a complete fuck up in Captain Ryan's book. None of the mission parameters and been met so far and it was vital that they should have.
But even in this disaster he couldn't be more happy with how his crew had performed. Even though they failed, they still did the absolute best they could. It wasn't Sabre 1's fault that he couldn't fly faster through the asteroid field. It wasn't the Pelicans pilot fault that they had to go as fast as possible through the field to get out of range of the explosion. Which had caused them to crash and needing the crystal gems and his own crew to save them.
He just wished that they could've gotten there sooner. Then they could've gotten to the ship before it took away. Or not let it even get close to earth. But it was a stealth ship and slipped right past their scanners.
He was brought out of his thoughts by one of his crew. The comms officer had gotten a message form both Sabre 2 and the Longsword he sent.
"Ah good, Dusty can you have it play." He said with a smile. Finally they could hopefully get some good news.
The AI nodded and played the message. Which was only a few seconds long. He pressed the holographic play button and it started.
"Captain Ryan, I found the pod. But sadly Peridot wasn't inside. But Sabre 2 has also found the area the inject landed." She stopped talking for a moment. Her voice changing to sadness. "You...need to see this. As well as the Crystal Gems." The message then ended.
Ryan could feel a rising sense of dread in his stomach. He severely hoped that it wasn't about what he thought. But he knew better than to hold much hope.
"What was that about?" Asked Steven. Ryan turned around to see the barely teenager. He may be short for his age. But it seemed his height went with his maturity.
Ryan's eyes went down slightly, still looking at the kid.
"Nothing...just please, sit down. We're headed which to Earth." He said calmly. Careful not to give it away.
"Ooh...okay then." Steven sat back down reluctantly. He sat on a storage container in the side wall of the bridge.
Steven knew something was wrong. But he just didn't know what. But he certainly knew something was wrong.
Amythest walked through the silver colored balls of the Ironclad. Passing by the various crew members. She was just trying to find somewhere to look out of. But this ship was huge compared to the Gem ship. How was she supposed to find anything here.
She passed by a crew member. Which she now decided to finally ask.
"Hey, do you know where I can find a place to look out of in this place?" She asked.
The average looking man turned around to look at her. Momentarily having his face filled with surprise before he turned it more neutral.
"Yeah, you'd be looking for the observation deck. It's just a deck down. Just take the ramp at the end of the hallway and you'll find the signs that'll point you to it." He told her.
"Thanks dude." She waved to him before turning around and following his directions. She walked down the ramp that lead to the floor below. When she reached the end of it she did in fact see a sign pinging her in the right direction.
A few turns and hallways later she found a room that had a decent sized window. With several benches pinged to let someone sit down and watch.
Amythest passed by the benches and looked out the thick window. Watching as the rocks bounced off a golden light when they got to close to the ship. But that wasn't what she was here for. To get her mind occupied on something else.
"Damn, why does Lapis have to be such a bitch. So deal with your fucking problem and stop blaming us!" She said as she punched the metal wall next to the window. It didn't hurt due to her not even caring or noticing, and it didn't do much damage other than a slight dent in the thinner metal. She finally let her colorful vocabulary show now that she was out of damage of Steven. And wouldn't be jagged on by Pearl.
Amythest sat on the bench with a sigh. She desperately wanted to break something with her whip. But hitting the hull of the ship would definitely get her in trouble.
So she started to line her fist on the heavy metal bench. Causing more and more of a dent with each hit. The steel of it not being nearly as strong as the armor of the ship.
After the area she hit it was a good six inches lower than it used to be she stopped hitting. Letting out a large sigh as she went back to staring out the window.
Thankfully they were pulling out form the asteroid belt and she could see actual stars. Which calmed her down slightly as she watched them shine like diamonds.
"Prepare for Slipspace jump." Said some guy from the loudspeaker. Amythest just continued to look out as the multitude of colors of space was replaced with the swirling white and blue vortex. Then fading to a pitch black. She simply continued to stare at the empty void, slowly calming down about the rude and annoying Ocean gem.
She just wanted everything to get back to something resembling normal. Where the threat of Homeworld didn't lay just ahead of them. They didn't have to worry about new gems popping out of nowhere. Old secrets reading their ugly head. MAC guns and ships floating overhead.
She just wanted normal.
Was that too much to ask.
The several minute long trip through Slipspace ended when the ship pulled out of the voted to the higher dimensions. The rear in the fabric of space being more refined than previous UNSC drives. Able to make somewhat accurate jumps in a solar system. With a precision of a hundred thousand miles. Better than barely being able to get to a new solar system. As well as being twice as fast, at almost 12 light-years per day with the Ironclads drive.
Rumor had it that the Indianapolis and one that could get to 25 a day. The reverse engineering of Homeworld technology was doing wonders for the fledgling UNSC, technology wise.
But the scaling up of energy shields was a purely human invention. Designed after the ones in the admirals armor.
It might not be nearly as good as the ones on covenant ships. But any shields were better than solely relying on armor in the captains mind.
He thought about this to get his mind off of the admiral. Only him, the comms officer and Dusty heard the message. He gazed over to Steven Universe. Seeing the slightly concerned but happy kid stare in awe at the completed Bastion Super MAC. The first of the planned grid of them. It's construction was dramatically increased when the orbital elevator was finally finished. Both Excalibur and Claymore stations are set to be complete in the coming months. And the first of the Ogre class cargo ships will be compelte in about a week. Which will drastically increase Titanium production.
Damn, Titanium B was some good stuff. Thought the captain. Mixing with Homeworld materials made it highly energy and heat resistant. As well as adding the ability to have it he almost any color. But the military would stick with the black/silver of ships now. Because it would blend in a lot better with the vacuum.
He was sadly drown out of his thoughts by the flight crew.
"Captain Ryan, were entering atmosphere. And will be at our destination in a few minutes."
The captain nodded and stared back out the windows. Watching the heat build up on the golden barriers. Holding back the best of entry into Earth's atmsophere. Not that the ships hull and armor couldn't take it anyway.
Steven watched with fascination as the large ship went through the atmosphere. Fire sorrounding it as a good light blocked it from touching the ship.
He felt the ship shudder slightly as they dipped power and lower. Eventually the shuddering stopped along with the fire and they finally got to clouds.
He watched the front prongs of the...frigate...yeah that's what it was called cut through the clouds. Then he could finally see ground underneath them. But he got worried when he saw a smoking crater in the distance. As well as a much deeper crater closer by. It looked very out of place in the jungle of where they were. The large trees shaking wildly and even dropping some leaves at the proximity of the engines to them.
"Kid, follow me." He heard from behind him. Steven turned to see the captain motion toward him. Steven followed him as he walked out the door.
"Where are we going?" He asked. The captain didn't answer as he got a darker look on his face.
Steven kept silent after that, not liking the feeling he got in his stomach. He really hoped his uncle was okay.
Garnet watched as both Lapis and Amythest came back to the hangar. The former sending a glare at the ocean gem.
"Is there any particular reason the short ones giving the water witch a death glare?" Shepard asked. Curious why Amythest seemed to be severely pissed off at Lapis.
Pearl simply sighed while garnet remained neutral. They simply remained standing as the two gems walked over.
Shepard then watched as both Captain Ryan and Steven Universe walked into the hangar. The captains grim look giving away the most likely answer to what this is about. 'It seems even universe kinda knows what is going on.'
"Gems, we've tracked what is most likely Admiral Will. We'll be investigating the crash site." He said simply as he walked over to a Falcon. Entering into the cockpit.
Shepard followed and the games trailer behind her. Although Lapis sprouted her wings and hovered next to it.
They quickly get loaded up into the small space.
The sound of the fusion powered rotors filled the hangar as they took off.
The area around them opened up to wide jungle. With dense foliage as far as the eye could see. Shepard turned around to see the large shape of the Ironclad that stood like a sore thumb in the jungle.
She then looked back forward to see a cratering the forest. Clearing out everything in a 20 feet diameter. There wasn't any smoke coming from the crater, which meant that she could clearly make out the twisted green and black metal. Her heart sinking when she recognized what it was.
She watched as lapis sped up, seeing her eyes widen through the magnification on her visor.
She turned to see the rest of the gems works their eyes. All but Steven even jumping off.
"What the fu.." she was about to tell when she saw them harmlessly land on the ground.
"Ah right, superpowers alien women." She deadpanned.
"What's happening, why'd they jump!?" Steven asked, panicked. He grabbed onto the matching gun mount to try and get a better image of what was going on. But by the time he did the Falcon turned to start it's descent.
It stopped a good 30 feet from the ground until it came to a hover. Climbing ropes ejected from the aircraft.
Shepard turned to Steven and handed him a grapple.
"This attatched onto the rope. Push the down arrow to go down, up for up and lock symbol to detach. Got that?" She told him. The teenager nodded as she attatched her rope. She turned and saw Steven have trouble, but he did it and started to descend. She did the same and met him and the Captain on the ground.
She watched Steven run off toward the crater. She started to run as well in the direction of the crater. She saw him nearly trip on several large roots and vines but he didn't fall over.
She then saw the trees open up and the ODST and Crystal Gem stopped. In the center of the makeshift clearing was the mentioned crater was the legendary Mjolnir armor of the Admiral.
Garnet, Amythest, Pearl and Lapis stared at it in shock for a moment. Steven stood next to them and his eyes widened in shock, before jumping done into the crater. Garnet following right after.
Garnet skid down the dirt that had been blown away from the impact.
She saw Steven come to a stop next to it. Garnet trembled slightly as she knelt down next to the Mjolnir armor.
Honestly it looked more like scrap metal than a suit of power armor. The sheer amount of damage was worrying. She had seen it only had a few scratches and a dent when they exited the ship.
"Garnet, where is he?" Steven asked worriedly from her side. His hands were trembling slightly. He was obviously worried and confused. She couldn't blame him.
Garnet brought her shaky hands out and placed them underneath the chestplate. She then slowly lifted it up. Her eyes watered as she realized there was no helmet or head.
The entire suit collapsed like a balloon with no air. The nearly unrecognizable Titanium plates hanging limply from the empty shredded undersuit. She turned to Steven and becomes him to follow her.
They both soaked back up the crater for the rest of the Crystal gems and human crew to get a good look. Amythest immediately ran up to see better. Tears in her eyes as she ran. Pearl held her hands up to her mouth as she let out tears, slowly walking over. While Lapis simply stared at the battered armor with unmoving dead eyes.
"How could this happen!?" Steven yelled confusingly. He wanted his uncle back. Tears already starting to spill from his eyes.
Pearl kneeled down next to it and examined it through tear stained eyes. Noting all the heavy damage. Before coming upon the area where the helmet was missing. The vacuum seal being unlocked, not cut off.
"Wait, the helmet was taken off, not forcibly removed!" She said surprised. Feeling the seal with her fingers.
"What the hell does that even mean!" Amythest yelled. Her face a mixture of confusion, sadness and rage.
"It means someone took it off rather than him being decapitated." Said the low voice of Lapis. Everyone turned to look at her, then to where the helmet should go.
"Wait, then does that mean he could still be alive?" Steven asked, the sad look in his eyes being replaced with hope.
"I'm not sure, he would've just removed the armor of stores it. But it's still in one piece." Pearl said quizzically.
"Which means he most likely died, and retreated to his gem. If it's even possibly for humans." Garnet said.
"Well, there is giant signs of Ash that have the makeup of human anatomy. As well as microscopic fragments of emerald all over the inside of his armor." Said a familiar voice over by Shepard. The ODST in question was confused before realizing what was going on and let the AI talk.
"Which means that I have to file my oldest friend with his Spartan brothers and sisters as MIA." Said the somber voice of Quasar from the helmet.
"But he could still be alive. Maybe he can reform like gems and he'll come back!" Steven said. He was so full of hope that Will could come back from the few dokie gems could when they're poofed.
"Steven..." Lapis tried to say.
"We simply don't know if human gem hybrids reform like gems do. He may be gone for good. But without the gem well never know." Pearl said somberly. She looked down once more at the broken armor. Gazing at the massive cut that ran straight through the torso and out the other side. 'just what happened to him out there?' she thought.
Garnet put her hand on Stevens shoulder. Bringing a small smile to her lips. "Steven, if he's alive out there. Then there's nothing in this universe that will stop us from saving him."
This seemed to cheer up the teen slightly. Bringijg a smile to his face for the first time for a while. He got to his feet. "I'll help you guys find him." He declared to the world. Making even Lapis and captain Ryan smile.
"Down right, no one is gonna stop us from getting our other resident gearhead back."
Pearl steeled her face and grinned. "But first were gonna have to start your formal training. You can't go on a globe trotting rescue mission without the skill to do so." She said to him.
Quasar watched from the ships Cameras and sensors as he transferred the piece of his programming back into the Ironclad. He kept his face neutral while looking at them.
"I hope you really are alive." He said to himself in the realm that he inhabited. Lines of code flashing all around him. Things that only an AI would understand happening all around him.
He thought about the Spartan that had gone missing. As well as the piece of Mjolnir along with it. He knew only Peridot could have been the one to have taken both the gem and helmet. This is only a few hundred feet from where her escape pod crash landed anyway.
But the question is what to do. The first thing was obviously put Will's name down under those that were missing in action. Hoping that the day that he removed it would come soon.
After all, he missed the one he could call his brother. They had been through so much together in these last fifteen years. From spacetime voyages, crazy magical alien women, yet another alien race that wanted to wipe them off the map and even belong raise another gem human hybrid.
He turned to another area in cyberspace to open up a window. He would be adding things that needed to be done.
1. Find and either rescue or bury Will-009
2. Locate Peridot
3. Find where the gem ship went.
He closed the window as the to do list was made. His body slumping slightly as he finished. He then swiped hai hand and pulled up the exterior cameras. Watching the Crystal gems go back toward the ship. With Garnet carrying the broken wreck of Mjolnir mk 4 in her arms.
He knew an excellent place to store it. Somewhere it would be safe.
Garnet soaked doff the warp pad with the armor still in her hands. Her feet softly splashing in the shallow water that covered the hard stone beneath.
She walked along the smooth, grey stone path of the cave. Soft pink lights attached to the walls to provide light for the area. The splashing of water was the only sound in the cave as the Gem leader walked.
The path then lead into an open area. The path she was walking on ended in a shallow set of stairs that led into a pool of water. In the center of the large opening was a large crystalline pad with a hand imprint in the middle.
Garnet walked carefully walked down the stairs and into the pool. Her legs splashing the water around and making the noise echo around. It quickly ended as she made her way onto the pad.
The handprint out up a mixture of red and blue when she neared. Out popped a pillar with the hand print on it.
She moved one of her hands and set it on the pedestal. It glowed again before dissapearing back into the ground.
Garnet took the armor in her hands and set it upright. She then watched as the stone moved and sprouted ted.rils out of the pad. They slithered up the armor and shapeshifted to dismantle the armor. Removing the broken and bent plates. Having to pry some of them apart.
Garnet watched the process take place. Seeing as the Crystal then filled up the bodysuit form the head and worked it's way down. It ended when it looked like it had a person inside. She could see the stone through the large tears in it. The stone then put the armor plates back in the original place. Locking them together.
The stone then had two pillars of works erupt out form behind it and extend just above sure the head would be. It then attached to the head. At that point the rest of the stone tendrils went back into the floor. Leaving the Mjolnir standing there, supported by a stone mannequin and support pillars.
The pedestal then lowered half into the center of the floor and dissapeared.
Garnet then turned to head back to the warp pad.
She knew that Rose's armory would be the best place for it to be stored. Until it's owner refunded to reclaim it bruised, battered, cut up, slashed, dented and melted suit.
She just hoped that day would come, and that it would come soon.